Ms. Carmen Sillero graduated from the University of Cordoba (Spain) with a master’s degree in Agricultural Engineering, specialised in Economy, Sociology and Rural Policy. Since 2005, she has been working in the Agency of Innovation and Development of Andalusia. In 2010 she was appointed Head of Unit for International Programmes and from 2012 she is Head of Division for Strategy and Programmes. Since 2017, she has also acted as an executive board member in EURADA where she has been leading the activities on the smart specialisation strategies and the promotion of the defense industry. 

Having worked at the agency of Innovation and Development of Andalusia for years, Ms. Carmen gathered plenty of experience of participating in European commissions and other regional working groups related to European policies, as well as experience of taking part in projects and initiatives. The regional development agency is an institution dedicated to promoting social innovation in Andalusia. To this end, the agency has been supporting Andalusian entrepreneurship from managing and rewarding enterprises to managing projects and programmes of economic transformation, industry, knowledge and university councils, and the construction of industrial and technological infrastructure. Agencia IDEA is also one of the members of EURADA and  was re-elected as member of the Board of Directors in 2020.  

Smart specialisation Platform, or S3 platform where Ms. Carmen will begin her next career, provides advice to EU countries and regions for the design and implementation of their Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3). Conceived within the reformed Cohesion policy of the European Commission, Smart specialization is a place-based approach characterized by the identification of strategic areas for intervention based both on the analysis of the strengths and potential of the economy and on an Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EDP) with wide stakeholder involvement. 

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